DICOM worklist and DICOM SR: the patient on the scanner and the measurements straight into the report
With the DICOM worklist, the scheduled patient appears on the ultrasound scanner on its own. With DICOM SR, the measurements made on the scanner drop straight into the report fields, with no retyping.
LaudárioUltrasound reports in practice
Every clinic knows the scene: the front desk registers the patient in the system, the technologist types the name again on the scanner, the physician measures everything on the ultrasound and then types the measurements again in the report. That is three entries for the same information, and each one is a chance for error: swapped name, transposed measurement, wrong laterality.
Two DICOM standards put an end to this: the worklist and the SR.
DICOM worklist: the patient appears on the scanner on their own
The worklist (MWL) is the list of the day's exams that the scanner queries. When the front desk saves the appointment, the exam enters this list with name, date of birth, sex and exam type.
- On the scanner, the technologist or physician just selects the patient from the list.
- Typing on the ultrasound keyboard, which is slow and error-prone, ends.
- Images leave the scanner already identified with the exam code (Accession Number), and so they reach the right exam in the system.
DICOM SR: measurements become data
The SR (Structured Report) is the report the scanner generates with the measurements made during the exam: fetal biometry, volumes, diameters. Instead of staying only "drawn" on the image, the measurements travel as data.
- The system reads the SR and fills the corresponding fields of the report: BPD, HC, AC, FL, estimated weight, volumes, axes.
- The physician verifies instead of typing.
- Calculations that depend on the measurements, such as percentiles, gestational age and volume, come out ready.
What changes in the routine
- Fewer transcription errors. The measurement in the report is the same one made on the scanner.
- Greater speed. In obstetrics, the entire biometry no longer has to be typed.
- Images in the right place. The report viewer already opens with the exam's series, with measurement calibrated from the DICOM image itself.
What is needed
- A scanner with DICOM enabled (worklist and image sending). Most current scanners have it, sometimes as a licensed option.
- The scanner configured to send the images and the SR to the clinic's PACS.
- For the SR, the scanner must export the structured report. The main manufacturers do this for obstetrics and vascular.
How Laudário helps
In the Laudário cloud PACS:
- The appointment publishes the exam to the scanner's worklist.
- Images reach the right exam through the Accession Number.
- DICOM SR measurements drop straight into the report fields.
- Viewer with series, thumbnails and measurement in centimeters inside the editor.
- Pro and Multi plans.
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